‘This cash won’t build new Listry Bridge’ - Cronin

COUNCILLOR Brendan Cronin has welcomed €200,000 in funding for the notorious, onelane Listry Bridge, funding which will go towards site investigation works and design preparation. He has, however, sounded a word of caution on the news.

Minister Brendan Griffin announced the funding last week, which he described as a first step to replacing the bridge.

Cllr Cronin has long campaigned for a new two-lane bridge with footpaths on either side and was pleased at the announcement. He told The Kerryman that the funding has come about after Kerry County Council submitted an application for funding last summer, which included a preliminary design based on their own site investigations.

But while Cllr Cronin described the funding as very welcome and agreed with Minister Griffin that it is a first step to a solution, he said the money itself “won’t build the bridge”.

“I spoke to Kerry County Council about what the €200,000 would provide, and the response I got is that it would allow for appointing consultants, doing the site investigation, doing the detailed design, and bringing it to the planning process,” he said. “That’s all statutory, and I accept all of that.

“But that in itself won’t build the bridge. It’s like if you were going building your house: you have the money to do your site investigation, but no mortgage. My worry is we’re four months from council elections and this, while it’s very welcome, will take some time, and we don’t know where we stand when the election is gone.

“Always and ever, it’s accepted you’ve a great chance to secure funding prior to an election from central government. My call to our two ministers is that we have to be guaranteed the funding to construct the bridge following the planning process. Then we’re making headway.”

Cllr Cronin said he has seen the preliminary design and, while stressing it is only a preliminary design, added that a new bridge will be a significant undertaking. The bridge, “which is quite long”, is in an area with a long history of flooding, another major consideration if a new bridge is to be built. He added that signage on the approaches to the bridge; improved surface; and the change to a one-lane system and other previous measures were not permanent solutions, in his opinion. The only solution, he said, was a two-lane bridge with footpaths on either side. “This bridge is a constant danger,” he said.

He also praised Kerry County Council CEO Moira Murrell. “I feel she has been more proactive on the issue than county managers, road engineers, and national politicians from years gone by.”